ALVIN E. TANENHOLTZ is a Registered Patent Agent in the
Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Department of The Nath
Law Group. For 33 years,
Mr. Tanenholtz has specialized in the fermentation chemistry and
molecular biology field of biotechnology in the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office, from which he retired in 1989. While a Patent
Examiner, Mr. Tanenholtz was responsible for prosecuting and granting
three of The Ten Patents that Changed the World, as identified
in the August of 2002 edition of IP Worldwide.
Mr. Tanenholtz has
examined and issued many of the basic genetic engineering patents
including those drawn to the expression of human growth hormone,
hepatitis antigen and erythropoietin. Mr. Tanenholtz's position on
patentability was affirmed in the O'Farrell decision, the
first recombinant DNA case to reach the Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit. Mr. Tanenholtz has participated in the Conference
on Patenting of Life Forms at Cold Spring Harbor and the
Biotechnology Patent Conference at the American Type Culture
Collection.
Mr. Tanenholtz
started his career in the Fermentation, Food and Beverage division
of the Patent Office. He is most noted for his role as supervisor in
the patent prosecution of the landmark Supreme Court Chakrabarty
patent decision and as primary examiner in both the pioneering
recombinant DNA Cohen-Boyer patent and in the controversial first
animal genetic engineering patent now referred to as the Harvard "Mouse" patent.
Mr. Tanenholtz has
been a featured speaker at two Biotechnology Law Institute
programs in New York and San Francisco. He had also spoken before
the Boston Patent Law Association and the Department of Justice's
Biotechnology seminar. In the fall of 1987, Mr. Tanenholtz taught a
weeklong course at the Korean International Property Training
Institute in Seoul. He has participated in many other professional
meetings over the years.
Among the many
awards Mr. Tanenholtz has received have been two of the federal
government's highest commendations, the Bronze and Silver medals,
awarded for his contributions towards the patenting process in
biotechnology.
He graduated from the University of Massachusetts in
1956 with a degree in microbiology.
Mr. Tanenholtz is
registered to
practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. |
